Sounding favor with representation of a fanciful character

ABSTRACT

A SOUNDING PARTY FAVOR HAVING A PAIR OF THIN, ELONGATE STRIPS OF FIRM, FLEXIBLE MATERIAL SECURED IN SUPERPOSED RELATION AT THEIR OPPOSITE ENDS, THE INTERMEDIATE PORTIONS OF WHICH MAY BE SEPARATED BY MOVING THE ENDS INWARD TOWARD EACH OTHER AND UPON OUTWARD MOVEMENT OF SAID ENDS IN A RAPID FASHION AWAY FROM EACH OTHER WILL PRODUCE A SLAPPING SOUND. THE MOTION OF THE STRIPS AND THE SOUND PRODUCED THEREBY ARE RELATED TO A FANCIFUL CHARACTER IN WHICH A MOUTH IS FORMED FROM THE STRIPS AND HEAD AND JAW APPENDAGES ARE SECURED TO THE STRIPS.

Nov. 23, 1971 po-r zus 3,621,605

souunxue FAVO R WITH REPRESE TION OF A FANCIFUL CHARACT Filed Oct. 22, 1969 3 Sheets-Sheet l mvsrvmn STANLEY G. POTRZUSKI BY 0%, M 5

1971 s. G. POTRZUSKI 3,621,605

SUUNDING FAVOR WITH REPRESENTATION OF A FANCIFUL CHARACTER Filed on. 22, 1969 s Sheets-Sheet z nwnu'ron 25b STANLEY G. POTRZUSKI ATTORNEYS 1971 s. e. POTRZUSKI 3,621,606

SUUNDING FAV WITH REPRESENT ON 05' A F IFUL CHARACTE Filed Oct. 22, 1969 3 Sh0ets-Sh0ot IINVENTOH STANLEY G. POTRZUSKI ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,621,606 SOUNDING FAVOR WITH REPRESENTATION OF A FANCIFUL CHARACTER Stanley G. Potrzuski, 452 Elrino St., Baltimore, Md. 21224 Filed Oct. 22, 1969, Ser. No. 868,531 Int. Cl. A63h 5/00 U.S. Cl. 46-118 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A sounding party favor having a pair of thin, elongate strips of firm, flexible material secured in superposed relation at their opposite ends, the intermediate portions of which may be separated by moving the ends inward toward each other and upon outward movement of said ends in a rapid fashion away from each other will produce a slapping sound. The motion of the strips and the sound produced thereby are related to a fanciful character in which a mouth is formed from the strips and head and jaw appendages are secured to the strips.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to amusement devices and more particularly to a sounding party favor of the type which produces a loud report or clapping sound whenever it is manipulated to rapidly bring together opposed, matching elements of the device.

At parties and celebrations of many festive occasions, noisemakers are customarily employed to add to the excitement and enjoyment of the event. Party favors of the noisemaking type which are easily manipulated and sufficiently inexpensive that they may be freely distributed by a host to all participants are presently in great demand. When such party favors are likely to be used by children or are specifically designed for childrens parties, they must be made as safe as possible and, of course, extremely easy to operate. Another desirable quality of a childs party favor is that it be adaptable for a variety of uses and for playing different games. Although sounding type party favors for children presently available on the market have been successful in producing the desired party noises, they have not been particularly satisfactory in providing children with other avenues of entertainment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved sounding party favor.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a sounding party favor which is easily manipulated and extremely safe in its use.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a party toy which produces a loud report or clapping sound and is adaptable for other uses and in playing a variety of games.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide an acoustical party toy which is inexpensive to produce, simple in construction, easy to manipulate and capable of wide design variations which permit various forms of amusement to be enjoyed.

The foregoing and other objects are attained principally by an acoustical puppet or sounding party favor having a pair of superposed strips of flexible material which are adapted to be hand-he1d by their opposite ends and thus first urged to separate by moving the hands together, and then to be brought together sharply by an outward motion of the hands, whereby a loud report or clapping sound is produced. The puppet configuration of the party favor comprises a fanciful character in which the upper and lower lips of the mouth portion are formed from the respectively disposed strips intermediate the ends thereof, a nose, eyes and head are disposed on the outer surface of the strip on which the upper lip is formed, and a jaw is disposed on the outer or lower surface of the strip on which the lower lip is formed. If desired, the toy may be worn as a decorative hat by fitting the open mouth formed by the flexible strips over the head of the wearer. Additionally, the puppet design is such that the clapping motion of the mouth may be used for picking up articles in a pick-up game, blowing out candles or the like, or blowing balloons across the floor or a table in a balloon race game, as well as for simply making noise or simulating a speaking character. Also, when used in conjunction with a backstand, the open mouth of the puppet may serve as an amusing target in other games through which bean bags, pennies, marbles or the like may be tossed from a given distance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Still other objects and many of the attendant features and advantages of the present invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like numerals designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several figures, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a puppet formed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention and illustrating how the mouth of the puppet may be opened by moving the hands slightly in a direction toward one another;

FIG. 2 is another perspective view of the puppet shown in FIG. 1 and illustrating how the strips forming the mouth thereof may be brought rapidly together by quickly moving the hands apart, whereby a clapping sound or a loud report is produced;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing how the puppet illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 may be worn as a party hat;

FIG. 4 is a top view of the puppet shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the puppet embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate in separate angles of perspective the details of a second puppet configuration embodied within the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a third puppet configuration incorporating features of this invention; and,

FIG. 9 is a view in perspective showing one of the puppets mounted on a backboard with the mouth portion held open for allowing articles to be tossed therethrough in one of the many games that may be played with the puppet party favor formed according to the teachings of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2 thereof, a sounding party favor or acoustical puppet generally indicated by the numeral is shown being formed by an upper facial characteristic half 11 and a lower facial characteristic half 12, which together create the facial outline of an amusing character. The upper half 11 comprises an elongated thin strip 13 of firm, flexible paper, such as pressboard plastic-coated paper or the like, upon which there are disposed an arched crown piece 14 and a base piece 15, which may be made from the same flexible paper material. As shown in this embodiment, the ends of the strip of paper forming the crown 14 are curled upwardly to represent hair ends 17 as would be the case for a lady puppet. This strip of paper is preferably yellow in color for depicting blond hair which, in

combination with the curls 17, create a better aura of femininity for the puppet. Under the crown piece 14 is the base strip having forwardly disposed bent up flaps or tabs which represent a nose 18 and eyes 19, the latter having circles painted thereon for providing better characterization of the iris in the normal eye. Forwardly disposed on the top strip 13 in a widened portion intermediate its length for forming a mouth protrusion 20 is a bent up flap or tab representing an upper lip 21 in shape and coloration.

The lower facial half 12 is made up of an elongated thin strip 23 of the same firm, flexible paper from which the upper strip 13 is formed and is shaped substantially the same as the upper strip, having a widened portion intermediate its ends for forming a mouth protrusion 24 from which a flap or tab 25 representing a lower lip is bent downwardly. A curved chin strip 26 is secured to the bottom surface of the bottom strip 23, which completes the facial configuration of the puppet 10.

The respective ends of the top strip 13 and the bottom strip 23 are secured together with paper hinges 27, shown being formed by folding the ends of the longer top strip 13 over the ends of the bottom strip 23, and fastened preferably with staples or the like. Staples are also used for fastening the crown piece 14 and the eyes and nose forming base strip 15 to the top strip 13 and the chin strip 26 to the bottom strip 23. The intermediate portions of the two strips 13 and 23 are left unsecured so that they may flex outwardly away from each other as indicated in FIG. 1 when the opposite sides of the puppet 10 are grasped by an operator and forced inwardly as shown by the arrows 28. When the motion of the hands is in an outward direction as shown by the arrows 29 in FIG. 2, the characteristic halves 11 and 12 are brought forcibly together and into contact and the movement is found to result in the emitting of a loud report or resounding slap. This may be rapidly repeated to give the illusion of speech in synchronism with the opening and closing of the mouth of the puppet.

The halves 11 and 12 of the puppet 10 may also be separated sufficiently to encompass the head of a person as shown in FIG. 3, the upper half 11 being placed above the forehead and the lower half 12 being placed at the base of the back of the head, whereby the puppet 10 may be worn as a head band or crownless hat, if desired, with the facial features thereof displayed forwardly of the wearer.

In FIGS. 6 and 7, another embodiment of the present invention is illustrated wherein the configuration of the puppet 10a is like that of a rooster. Here, the upper facial half 11a comprises an elongate flexible strip 13a having a crown piece 14a disposed thereon, which, as shown, may be shaped at its peak to form a comb. The ends of the strip forming the crown 14a are inwardly bent to provide fastener footings to the top strip 13a and further, the eyes 1% are formed by right-angled flaps or tabs on each of such ends. The lower facial half 12a of the rooster puppet has a. mutually attached bottom strip 23a on which Wattles 30 are disposed, being formed by doubly looping the chin strip 26a.

An alligator embodiment of the puppet generally indicated by the numeral 101; is shown in FIG. 8 and is provided with a double-looped crown 14b secured to the top elongated strip 13b. The eyes 1% are formed from the ends of the crown strip so as to be encompassed by the loops formed therein. The upper facial characteristic half 11]) is further enhanced by a square upper jaw 20b comprising a widened portion of the top flexible strip 13b. A square lower jaw 24b for the lower facial half 12b is provided by a widened portion of the bottom flexible strip 23b, to which a curved chin strip 23b is secured as in the other puppet configurations.

Although only three puppet configurations have been illustrated herein, it is contemplated that the puppet may take on many other shapes and faces such as, by way of example, those of a soldier, a king or queen, and various animals such as frogs and the like.

Also, as hereinbefore indicated, any of the puppet embodiments illustrated or others similarly constructed can be readily worn as party hats or bands, manipulated to simulate speech and make sounds, or used to bite and pick up articles in the manner of tweezers. The puff of air resulting from the closing of the facial halves may also be used to cool heated items, to blow out candle flames or to blow balloons across the floor or along a table surface in a balloon race.

Yet another game that may be played with this sounding party favor is illustrated in FIG. 9, wherein the puppet 10 is shown disposed on a backboard or frame 31. A pair of vertically aligned pins 32 and 33 project forwardly from the frame, each being disposed on an opposite side of a hole 34 cut from the frame 31. The puppet strips 13 and 23 are separated and the crown piece 14 is placed over the upper pin 32, while the chin strip 26 is placed over the opposite side of the pin 33. Thus, the amusing face of the puppet 10 is presented to the players with its mouth opened wide, revealing the hole 34 in the frame 31. The object of the game is to stand a given distance from the puppet 10 and to attempt to toss objects such as bean bags, marbles, pennies or the like through the mouth of the puppet. If desired, several puppets 10 may be mounted on a frame 31 in this manner, with each mouth being spread open a different amount, in which case varying points may be awarded for each toss through a hole 34 according to the complexity of achieving that goal as determined by the size of the target.

Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practlced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed is:

1. A sounding party favor comprising:

a pair of thin, elongated strips of firm, flexible material secured together in superposed relation at their opposite ends;

said strips being separable at the intermediate portions thereof for permitting said intermediate portions to separate upon movement of said ends toward each other, and for producing a slapping sound when said separated intermediate portions are drawn suddenly taut and brought sharply together by rapidly moving said ends apart;

means on one of said strips for forming a portion of a fanciful character; and

means on the other of said strips complementing the said portion formed by said means on said one of said strips to complete the formation of said fanciful character.

2. A sounding party favor as set forth in claim 1, wherein a mouth of said fanciful character is formed by said strips and head and jaw appendages therefor are respectively secured to the oppositely disposed outer surfaces of said strips.

3. A sounding party favor as set forth in claim 2, wherein said intermediate portions of said strips are widened for forming said mouth of said fanciful character.

4. A sounding party favor as set forth in claim 3, wherein said head appendages comprise a crown forming piece and eyes for said fanciful character.

5. A sounding party favor as set forth in claim 4, wherein said fanciful character consists of the face of a person.

6. A sounding party favor as set forth in claim 5, wherein lips are formed from upwardly and downwardly bent portions of said widened mouth portions of said strips.

7. A sounding party favor as set forth in claim 4, wherein said fanciful character consists of the face of an animal.

8. A sounding party favor as set forth in claim 1, in

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,509,956 9/1924 Kipp 46-191 1,782,786 11/1930 Marx 46-175 2,819,559 l/1958 Daley 46-1 3,055,142 9/1962 Palm 46l.

RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner 5 M. SISKIND, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

